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Monday, July 13, 2015

Review: Hold Me Closer: The Tiny Cooper Story by David Levithan

Publisher: Penguin
Published: March 17, 2015
Pages: 208
Source: Gifted from Penguin Canada
Rating: 3.5 Stars


It’s Tiny Cooper’s turn in the spotlight in this companion novel to New York Times bestseller Will Grayson, Will Grayson.
Jazz hands at the ready! Tiny Cooper (“the world’s largest person who is also really, really gay”) stole readers’ hearts when he was introduced to the world in the New York Times bestselling book Will Grayson, Will Grayson, co-authored by John Green and David Levithan. Now Tiny finally gets to tell his story—from his fabulous birth and childhood to his quest for true love and his infamous parade of ex-boyfriends—the way he always intended: as a musical! Filled with honesty, humor, and “big, lively, belty” musical numbers, the novel is told through the full script of the musical first introduced in Will Grayson, Will Grayson.

In short: Hold Me Closer: The Tiny Cooper Story by David Levithan is a brilliant musical script that would be highly entertaining as a musical theatre performance.
If you've read Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan then odds are, you fell in love with Tiny Cooper. The not-so-tiny Tiny Cooper is the link between the two Will Graysons of the novel and acts as a bit of a life coach for the two Wills as they struggle to find their truths and gain the confidence in their selves that Tiny already has in leaps and bounds. Unlike most LGBT teen characters, Tiny already knows who he is and is happy and proud to be big and gay. Hold Me Closer is Tiny's life story in musical form.

I'm kind of in awe that the musical that we only saw glimpses of in Will Grayson, Will Grayson has been completely fleshed out here in Hold Me Closer in multiple acts and scenes, and full musical numbers and soliloquies by David Levithan. I mean, of course I knew he was a very talented and prolific novelist who writes great characters and very quotable prose, but who knew that he had the ability to write a consummate musical production, complete with music index and stage directions in his wheelhouse? I should have known better because David Levithan has yet to disappoint me.

Impressive as this complete musical theatre script is, musicals are meant to be seen as a performance, not read without any melody. Perhaps someone with more musical talent than I could fill in the gaps and add tunes to the lyrics of the songs, but I was left simply to read it. I have no doubt however, that Hold Me Closer would make for a brilliant audiobook or a highly entertaining musical theatre performance! Hold Me Closer: The Tiny Cooper Story is not only amusing, but I think also very inspiring. I recommend it, but I also highly recommend reading Will Grayson, Will Grayson first!

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Where the writer comes to write

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19 comments :

  1. Oh is this book a sequel to Will Grayson, Will Grayson?
    P.S: I haven't read Will Grayson, Will Grayson! :)
    Haniya
    booknauthors.blogspot.com

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    1. It's not so much a sequel as a companion. But I would still recommend reading WG, WG first!

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  2. Oh is this book a sequel to Will Grayson, Will Grayson?
    P.S: I haven't read Will Grayson, Will Grayson! :)
    Haniya
    booknauthors.blogspot.com

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  3. I loved Tiny Cooper! Totally stole my heart. I haven't read this one yet, but I too wondered how well it will translate as a written musical. Definitely on my reading list!

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    1. Excellent, I'm curious to read your thoughts on it!

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  4. I really want to read this one. I liked Will Grayson, Will Grayson, a lot and Tiny Cooper is a fantastic character. I think it would be great to see it performed though. :)

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    1. Oh I hope you do! It's the next best thing to seeing it performed :)

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  5. I haven't heard of this before or the original story it comes from, but I like the idea of a book being a musical with musical numbers and all - it sounds so cool! I'm glad you enjoyed this one; I may have to check out Will Grayson, Will Grayson soon :D

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    1. It was a pretty cool idea! WG, WG is a fantastic read, so I definitely recommend it!

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  6. I had no idea that this book was sorta like a sequel from Will Grayson, Will Grayson. Anyway, I'm sold on the idea. I love how it's a big musical and I hope they really do turn it into an actual performance, in particular I would prefer a movie so anyone from around the world can watch it.

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    1. Oooh yes a movie! That would be a lot of fun :)

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  7. Amusing and inspiring sounds great for this one. I actually haven't read anything by him but I know I should

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  8. Gorgeous review Aylee :D I have not heard of this one before, though the cover is pretty gorgeous :) Don't think it sounds like a book for me :\ But I'm so glad you liked it :D And you do make it seem awesome, and you are making me curious about it. Hmph :) Thank you for sharing sweetie. <3

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    1. It certainly won't be the kind of read for everyone, that's for sure! But I appreciated how different it was compared to the vast majority of books I read.

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  9. Aaw, thank you for linking me. I'm pretty sure I've told you have sweet you are before. I have, now haven't I? WELL YOU'RE LOVELY. As if we didn't all know it.
    Super review, though, Aylee! You definitely hit the mark about this being amazing as a stage production, and an audiobook! I hadn't imagined that before, but it would be terrific. I, sadly, share your inability to imagine a tune alongside lyrics, so that definitely works to make the experience a little less all round, although it's a fairly hilarious and clever book all round. Here's hoping it'll be made into a touring production one of these days, though! xx

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    1. Awww, Romi STOP!! You're too kind :)

      Oooh yes, fingers crossed this gets turned into a touring production one day! Can you imagine getting to see Tiny Cooper come to life in such an extravagant way?! Perfection.

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  10. Aw, Aylee! I was smiling all the time that it took me to read your review as you took me back to Tiny Cooper's story that I read some time back. This is such a brilliant work, and like you said, David Levithan manages to make every book of his unique. I am so happy you liked this one! Lovely review!

    Sarika @ The Readdicts

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    1. :):) Thanks, Sarika! Tiny's story is fantastic!

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